


We Were Kind Before, Could We Be Kind Once More?

by MonnKoneko



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Confessions, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Heavily inspired by Heathers The Musical, Heavily inspired by Mean Girls, Implied/Referenced Suicide, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Romance, Slow Build, Trauma, light fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28478253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonnKoneko/pseuds/MonnKoneko
Summary: "At least Kei owns up to what kind of person he is, we don't pretend to be people we're not. You're not the Kageyama Tobio I knew, and I doubt he'll ever come back now,"orKageyama Tobio wished that he had never fallen down a flight of stairs in the first place.~A Haikyuu!! AU, heavily inspired by Mean Girls and Heathers (Both the movies and the musicals).
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	We Were Kind Before, Could We Be Kind Once More?

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning for Later Chapters: Drugs, Violence, References to Suicide  
> Important notes at the bottom, please see those too.

**08:35**

**小太刀高校**

_Dear Diary,_

He scribbled, beginning the first of many pages in a new diary. 

~ 

Kageyama Tobio thought he was a good person. He firmly believed there was good in everyone. But today was the 1st of September, the first day of school, and he wasn’t sure being a good person would be enough to survive his hellish academia. 

To many, the first day of any school year might seem like a fresh new start, but this was the beginning of Kageyama’s senior year. Though he wouldn’t realise until later, today marked the beginning of a terrifying series of events that blemished what would otherwise be a completely uneventful highschool career. 

At any point he could’ve always transferred away to escape his alma mater, but to Kageyama, that wasn’t an option. He studied at _Kodachi Highschool_ after all. A problem will always be too complicated for the simplest solution to work perfectly. 

For context, Kodachi High School was enormous, and it maintained an astounding reputation. Over six-thousand students attended from across the country, privileged with top notch facilities and stellar education. 

Leaving it at that, his highschool seemed like a dream. Who wouldn’t want to go to school there? His attendance at Kodachi practically guaranteed Kageyama’s entry to a high-ranking university. The school was almost anything a student could wish for. 

Almost. 

There was the glaring problem of Kodachi’s social hierarchy, which Kageyama liked to present as a thought experiment: 

“What happens if you take four thousand overworked athletes and academics, and stuff them in a highschool with the kids who didn’t have to do an entrance exam because their parents made a generous donation”. 

The answer? 

A murky and elaborate social minefield where one wrong misstep can set you ablaze. 

At this school, secrets and whispers were like gasoline, prized among students who milled around like glowing embers looking for fuel. Rumours spread like wildfire, and whoever was unlucky enough to be a victim had to deal with the looming inferno. 

~ 

Kageyama smiled softly to himself at the metaphor (was it a simile?), hastily scribbling it down. He was definitely going to use that in his AP English Class. 

~ 

This year, all the blazing spotlights were shone upon them, and they’d be put under so much pressure it would be a surprise if they didn’t turn into diamonds. As seniors, they were expected to make a lasting impact on the highschool, and be the ones to look up to. Go out with a bang, as Westerners would say, which just made the situation even worse. 

Everybody was already insanely competitive, Kageyama had seen varsity teams fall apart and friend groups shatter simply because of a rumour. Consumed by the competitive and hungry nature of the flames. 

For the past two years, he had been lucky enough never to get burned. Here at Kodachi, you could just simply blend into the background. Sometimes you stick to the status quo if needed, but otherwise, you could turn a blind eye to the wildfires that raged around you. It was an advantage available to only those who could be content. If you don’t need to be the best, then you won’t get trampled by those who do. But being at the top was tempting, and Kageyama would soon learn just how far he would go to get just a taste. 

Sometimes blending into the background just wasn’t an option. It made it so people didn’t know you, so that they don’t recognise your achievements; not maliciously either, the shadows of those at the top were just way too large. 

As a result, blending in made it very hard to be acquainted with people. They would stick with their little cliques and barely socialise outside of them. At this school, friendship was like charcoal, and if you gave it away unwittingly, you might just set it on fire. You wouldn’t just give your charcoal away to a stranger, and neither would they to you. To some, that was a hefty price, but to Tobio it was an easy decision to make. 

Kageyama had one friend, his best friend, who he’s known since they were kids. Hinata Shoyo, whose smiles shone brighter than the sun; with fiery orange hair that reminded him of a campfire that you sat around on a cool summer night, that bore witness to good memories and laughter. 

If only everyone else would nourish that kind of flame, instead of feeding more rumours to the whirlwind of competitive fire. 

~ 

He wrote down these trains of thoughts in his diary, mindlessly filling at least three pages. Keeping a diary helped him keep on track and make sense of the world. He’d perfected the art of putting his thoughts down, and he’s been doing it for as long as he could write. 

The school bell rang in the distance as Kageyama wrote out another line. He finished off the first day of his diary with a small heart scrawled beside the name of a certain best friend of his. Shoyo had looked over his shoulder once while he was writing and asked him what the hearts were for. Mortified, Tobio simply responded that it was to remind himself how much he appreciated their friendship. 

It wasn’t a complete lie, now that he thinks about it. For now, he’ll just keep trying to believe that they meant what he said they meant. 

With a sigh, Kageyama grabbed his bag from under the tree where he sat, shaking off the wisteria blossoms that had landed on it, and ran in the direction of the buildings. It was terribly inconvenient, having to run such a long way, but Kageyama didn’t mind much. The garden was his favourite place in the wh ole school, and he almost always spent his mornings there. 

It was quiet, save for birdsong and rustling leaves. 

Barely anyone ever spent time in the garden, except for the horticulture students who took care of it. He had grown familiar with some of them but had never really gotten past being acquaintances. He presumed that they all used the garden for the same purpose, as a quiet escape from the noisy crowds of the school. 

Kageyama pulled out his phone as he dashed towards the school’s longest hallway. A tap pulled up his messages and found seven unread. It wasn’t like there was anyone else this could have possibly been other than Hinata, and he couldn’t help but smile at the context. 

* * *

日向ひなた 翔陽 - [HINATA SHOYO]

[Shoyo] - 8:30 AM 

YOU SHOULD GET TO CLASS EARLY!!! 

[Shoyo] - 8:31 AM 

You’re going to actually regret this Tobio 

[Shoyo] - 8:32 AM 

You’re at the school garden again aren’t you? 

Being all broody and emo and fluffy and stuff -_- 

[Shoyo] - 8:35 AM 

I swear if you’re actually ignoring my texts I’m going to rent Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes instead of The Princess Bride and we’re going to have a horrible movie night. 

[Shoyo] - 8:38 AM 

OMG Tobio the bell’s 5 mins away and you still haven’t read these. Good freaking luck on your first day. 

[Shoyo] - 8:43 AM 

It’s the first day of senior year and I assume you’re going to be late. AWESOME START. SUCH COOL, MANY WOW. 

[Tobio] - 8:44 AM

I won’t be late, don't worry.

AND PLEASE don’t rent some B-list Horror Movie tonight -_- 

[Shoyo] - 8:44 AM 

Fine, you’re bringing the popcorn though ;) 

[Tobio] - 8: 44 AM

Finee, what’s our first class again?

[Shoyo] - 8:44 AM 

Oh shit you don’t know. 

[Tobio] - 8:45 AM

What?

[Shoyo] - 8:45 AM 

You’re gonna hate this 

[Tobio] - 8:45 AM

Oh no

[Shoyo] - 8:45 AM 

...comms 

[Tobio] - 8:45 AM

You’re serious???

[Shoyo] - 8:45 AM 

Mhm. Your fault for always being at that garden >:D Seeya there King! 

[Tobio] - 8:46 AM

I should kill you for calling me that

[Shoyo] - 8:46 AM 

You won’t, you love me too much :P 

* * *

Kageyama felt his cheeks heat up ever so slightly as he shook his head at the text. Hinata Shoyo was going to be the death of him. 

_Wait,_

_I have communications._

_Shit._

Focus on the fact that you’re going to be late, Kageyama thought. It was a better alternative than obsessing over a throwaway ‘You love me too much’, after all. 

The communications classrooms were always located on the top floors of the school buildings. It was just his luck that he had to run up six flights of stairs to get there. With no other choice, he shoved his phone in his pocket and bolted. 

By the time he reached his building (Block A - Technologies) most people were already filing into their classrooms. With gritted teeth, he took to the stairs three steps at a time, moving like a blur to the students he passed. 

It was just his luck that by the landing of the fifth floor, disaster struck. Oh hey, that rhymed. 

“Oh— shit,” were his last words as he tripped over the final step and the world went dark. Sharp pain shot through his head and Kageyama opened his eyes, vaguely remembering the sensation of falling backwards. 

Groggily, he managed to sit up and was greeted with the sight of his bag split open. His belongings littering the tiled floor. 

He watched nonplussed as one of his pens dramatically rolled towards an Adidas shoe - a very expensive Adidas shoe. There was also a leg connected to the shoe, _why was there a leg there?_

Kageyama looked up and realised there was a person there. Correction, there were three persons— wait, no— people there. 

“Are you alright?” said the tallest of the three, reaching out a hand. He had brown hair and glasses. Kageyama’s eyes widened upon recognising who it was. 

Oikawa Tooru. 

The official setter of Kodachi Highschool’s major league volleyball team, Sakura. 

Kageyama wasn’t kidding about the insanely competitive nature of his school’s academic rankings. The academic decathlons and mathematics leagues alone were absolutely scathing, simply watching one would probably leave your self esteem shattered. 

The only things that could possibly top the mercilessness of Kodachi’s academic scene were the sports leagues. As a result, being on a major league sports team practically guaranteed your popularity. The kind of popularity where your name would be echoed around the school for years to come. 

It would be impossible to go around without hearing the name Tetsuya Kuroko when talking about basketball, or hear about Nanase Haruka in the swim team. In Kageyama’s favoured sport: volleyball, Oikawa Tooru was a big—if not one of the biggest—names. 

There was another positive to being on a major league team, one that tempted Kageyama more than the popularity: safety from the flames. Popularity effectively moulded you into solid teflon. Being a major league player like Oikawa guaranteed that rumours bounced off you harmlessly. As long as you did your job correctly, you were considered unattainable, unreachable, and incombustible. You were never stained, never harassed. 

Though real teflon has been disproven to have been linked with cancer, the cancerous nature of Oikawa’s teflon was still up for debate. Kageyama would not be surprised if that were the case. 

You see, people like Oikawa very rarely offered help or mingled with people that weren’t on his same calibre. It was part of the aura that people like him projected; he had to maintain an image and keep it from being tainted. To keep themselves out of the way of the flames, they often started the rumours themselves. 

They still maintained their popularity of course, so they masked their ruthlessness behind playful charms, flirtatious conversations, and upholding the status quo. 

“Are you going to answer or will we have to carry you to the nurse’s office?” Oikawa chuckled. 

Kageyama realised he had just been sitting there for a few seconds, simply not speaking. He scratched his head, his cheeks reddening for the second time today. 

“Sorry,” Kageyama replied, snatching his belongings. “I’ll be fine, thank you,” 

“We’ll help you with that,” said a tall dark-haired boy, already starting to collect some of his chemistry papers. Kageyama recognised him as Kuroo Tetsuro, another big league volleyball player from his highschool. 

_Well fuck._

If both Kuroo and Oikawa were here helping him, then the other person standing behind Oikawa must be Tendou Satori. A fact that Kageyama confirmed once he saw Tendou’s trademark red hair. 

_Double fuck._

These three were collectively called the Sakura No Ne, meaning Roots of the Cherry Tree. 

“There’s really no need, I can handle this myself,” Kageyama managed. It was just his luck that the star players of the biggest volleyball team in school watched him fall down the stairs. 

“Don’t be so modest, that was a large fall,” Tendou scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows. He nodded at Oikawa, and together they grasped both of Kageyama’s arms, pulling him up. 

A few moments and a broken calculator later, Kageyama had all of his belongings in a bundle in his arms. 

“Why don’t we walk you to the nurse’s office, so you can get a free pass out of your first class?” Oikawa suggested, gesturing in the direction of the clinic. “I have a spare TI-84 in my locker as well, so we can drop by there,” 

“Oh thank you, but I can make my own way to the nurse’s,” Kageyama replied. What motive could there possibly be for the Roots of the Cherry Tree to pay attention to him? 

“Don’t be so cold towards your fellow volleyball players, Kageyama Tobio,” Oikawa said, smiling sweetly. “We have to stick up for each other, you know?” 

Maybe it was Kageyama’s mind making it up, or his own preconceived notions of who the Sakura No Ne were, but there was something mildly unsettling about what Oikawa said. It was an encouraging, innocuous statement but he couldn’t help but feel commanded as if it was an order. 

“How do you know my name?” Kageyama said, in a tone that was neither challenging nor curious. He’d heard enough about these three, and wanted nothing to do with them. 

So why did they want something to do with him? What possible motive would they have to get acquainted with him? Kageyama was sure they could guess what he was like. The type of person who was content with where he was, who didn’t need or crave the spotlight. 

Kageyama was sure people like them knew how they were seen by people like him: attention seeking, power hungry highschool royalty. They fit the common ‘popular kid’ stereotype, where if they even look inconvenienced while glancing in your direction, you would be the topic of gossip for days. 

In other words, people like Kageyama saw them as absolute mythic bitches. Smart, hardworking mythic bitches, but absolute bitches nonetheless. 

Granted, Kageyama had never actually interacted with them. Maybe under the facade they were actually kind people. But it was equally likely that their reputation preceded them and they were (as one of his teammates would say) fucking with him. 

“You’re from team Fuji right?” said Tendou, smiling coyly. “We’ve seen you play; your sets are absolutely insane, that’s how we know who you are,” 

Kuroo nodded in agreement and Oikawa merely raised an eyebrow as the pieces clicked together. He couldn’t help but blush slightly at the complement but at least Kageyama knew what they were interested in. 

Not taking his unfortunate fall into account, this conversation was planned. Tobio doesn’t know exactly what they want, but he at least knows it’s because of volleyball. 

“Anyways, are you coming with us or not?” Oikawa leered at him. Kageyama felt unsettled once again and it took him a moment to finally realise why: Oikawa’s tone was perfectly calculated, a mix between boredom and venom with the familiar undertone of command. 

“I mean sure, I could use the time off to practice at Gym C,” Kageyama replied. He wanted to see where this was going and , admittedly, he did indeed need more practice. Summer vacation gave him barely enough time to do so as he worked part-time at a local radio station. Skipping the first class of the school year because of a ‘possible concussion’ seemed as good an excuse as ever. 

The three Roots looked at each other with surprise, morphing into genuine amusement. 

“We didn’t even need to ask,” said Tendou, now grinning. 

“Absolutely perfect,” Kuroo clapped his hand together. “There’s a little problem with your plans though,” 

“Oh?” 

“You’re practicing with _us_ ,” Oikawa laughed. “Let’s see how you fare against the Sakura No Ne,” 

“Oh thank you, but I don’t really think I’m cut out for—,” 

“Nonsense,” said Tendou this time. “We’ve seen you play ‘King Of The Court’, you’ll do just fine,” 

_He just had to bring up that nickname?_

Kageyama absolutely despised that name, a veiled insult from his middle school. The King of the Court was someone he didn’t recognise anymore, a selfish, sullen, and younger version of him. Looking back, it was a miracle Hinata still remained his friend through those days. 

He tried his hardest to conceal his annoyance. He wasn’t even sure how they knew about that nickname, after all, it was from his days as a middle school student in the Miyagi Prefecture. 

“Nobody calls me that anymore, you shouldn’t either,” Kageyama replied, biting back a more vulgar response. He refused to give them the satisfaction of getting on his nerves, though it was obvious from the strain of his voice. 

“Oh?” Tendou replied, grinning almost maliciously. “What’s the story behind that?” 

“Just leave him alone Satori,” Kuroo dismissed, nodding at Kageyama, as if to show— solidarity? He wasn’t sure, and neither did he have the chance to think about it as Oikawa spoke up. 

“You still haven’t answered the question,” Oikawa’s voice was rhythmic and rose in pitch at the end. His eyebrows were raised. Any sign of glee on his face was replaced by a cold stare. 

“I’m in, what is there to lose?” Kageyama replied, he was being challenged by the Roots of the Cherry Tree. There wouldn’t be anyone around to see it and all he could gain from it was better practice. 

At his approval, Kuroo glanced quickly at Oikawa, before staring back at him worriedly and then looking to the floor. Kageyama took note of that. There was still something he didn’t know about this set-up, and he resolved to be careful. 

“So it’s settled,” Oikawa smiled, appearing like a predator baring its teeth. “Hurry along Tobio-chan— can I call you that? I’m going to call you that,” 

“Oh— uh, okay,” Kageyama managed, first names usually came with trust, but he supposed it was enough of a nickname that he could let it slide. 

Kageyama simmered in a mixture of confusion, suspicion, and determination as they walked to the nurse’s office. There was more to this unorthodox invitation, and though he wouldn’t know it at the time, it smelled dangerously close to a fire he couldn’t possibly control. 

With a sharp breath, he forged onwards. There was no turning back now. 

It was just a game of volleyball after all, what was the worst that could happen? The prospects made him stomach sick. 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Special thanks to my amazing Beta Reader: DuckPerson! She always leaves such amazing and insightful feedback into the story. I'll try to post a chapter at least once per month, so I would greatly appreciate the support. 
> 
> 2\. There will be references to both Mean Girls and Heathers, a whole lot of them, but you won't need to have watched either movie or even Haikyuu to understand the main story. At the very least, that is the writing goal I am trying to achieve.
> 
> 3\. Please comment on what you think about this or if you find any errors/inconsistencies etc. Thank you so much! 
> 
> P.S. (I'd really appreciate it if people left Kudos or Comments if you liked it! It's been a hard few weeks with COVID-19 and I need the happy hormones ahaha)
> 
> NOTE: This fic is not rated because my chapters will all have varying ratings. There will be sex, alcohol, drugs, and mental health issues in this fic, and each chapter's rating will vary. I will include trigger warnings for each chapter at the beginning alongside a TL;DR at the bottom if it is especially mature/explicit.
> 
> [Minor Update: Chapter 2 will be coming soon! I just need to get back from holidays.)


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